Always a Woman to Me
by m-is-for-MollyMansfieldMealing
Summary: When she finds herself landed in dreary meetings, Rita tends to fall into her own thoughts and only pretend to pay attention every once in a while. During the annual leaders meeting at which Connie is speaking, she finds herself thinking more and more about the tall brunette in front of her, and how she's not always the indestructible machine she seems to be... Freechamp one shot!


**Hallo! This is the (rather long) one-shot I said I was hesitant about updating on Tumblr. It's based around the song "She's always a woman to me" by Billy Joel, as every time I've heard it recently Connie springs to mind xD**

 **I hope you like it (despite the length) as I'm still rusty when it comes to Freechamp writing :) Reviews would be great as always! -Sophie x**

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 _She can kill with a smile_

 _She can wound with her eyes_

 _She can ruin your faith with her casual lies._

 _And she only reveals what she wants you to see_

 _She hides like a child,_

 _But she's always a woman to me._

Rita sat across from her boss at their annual leaders meeting, pretending to take in everything that she was saying. Her eyes stayed on the beautiful brunette that stood in front of her, tall and confident in front of the hospital board. Her posture was strong, resilient almost, to their conservative attitudes and any other thoughts that strung themselves into words and fell out of their mouths. Rita however, could see beyond this façade. It was her eyes; they were always said to be the window to the soul, and that was no word of a lie- even when it came to Connie Beauchamp. They were empty: a blank space of derelict feelings, so unlike how joyful and full they had been just months before. After Grace left for America and Alfred passed away, all light that was left in her eyes vanished.

 _She can lead you to love_

 _She can take you or leave you_

 _She can ask for the truth_

 _But she'll never believe you_

 _And she'll take what you give her, as long as it's free_

 _Yeah, she steals like a thief_

 _But she's always a woman to me._

She was vulnerable, beyond however exposed she had ever felt before and Rita seemed the only person who could see that. She saw the gaping hole left in her life, where love should have been sat proud and still but instead lay empty.

Ever since Connie's first day in the ED, the small nurse knew that she was no ordinary consultant. As soon as her eyes fell on her face, Rita knew that she was in love. Just Connie's presence made her weak at the knees, and left her heart beating a million times a minute when she left. That heart was soon stolen, and by the most ruthless keeper of them all. Charlie told her when he came back from Bucharest that Connie knew all about her being framed. That was the moment she realized that her boss wouldn't become her lover as soon as she'd hoped.

 _Oh-she takes care of herself_

 _She can wait if she wants_

 _She's ahead of her time_

 _Oh-and she never gives out_

 _And she never gives in_

 _She just changes her mind._

The head nurse snapped back into the meeting room as an argument sparked.

"You have some ambitious plans for this year Connie, are you sure you can manage it all alone?" It was Guy Self speaking, sat back in his chair with his hands clasped on his crossed knees. The brunette he had rudely interrupted glared at him.

"I'm more than capable. And it's Mrs Beauchamp, thank you very much." She half spat the words, and the majority of the congregation "oooh"'d, grinning at Guy. This majority was predominantly male, with only a few men who knew Connie personally staying quiet, such as Elliot and Fletch. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Go ahead, act like children, I have time." She put on a fake smile and crossed her arms, looking about the room. Her eyes met briefly with Rita's but moved on quickly. The nurse inwardly sighed. She had apologized, what more did she want?

 _And she'll promise you more_

 _Than the Garden of Eden_

 _Then she'll carelessly cut you_

 _And laugh while you're bleedin'_

 _But she'll bring out the best_

 _And the worst you can be_

 _Blame it all on yourself_

 _Cause she's always a woman to me._

"So far this year I have improved the ED in many ways, not always alone but always at the helm. Miss Freeman, why don't you enlighten us all on the recent shift schedule change? I'm sure everyone would love to hear from a member of my team."

Rita immediately felt herself reddening as all eyes fell on her. Connie raised her other eyebrow and the sides of her mouth twitched.

"Payback." The blonde thought, smiling for the table. "Fine, if it'll make you lay off me a bit."

"Mrs Beauchamp implemented a new shift schedule earlier this year. This improved the amount of patients we could see and treat to almost double what it was before. We all had individual timetables which informed us not only of our work schedule, but of times we could study for exams too, as well as eating times, social times and more. They were very useful, and during the period of their use, our mortality rate fell by 7.5% so they were effective too." Throughout her whole speech, Rita's eyes darted to the people seated around the table, but never falling on her boss' figure. When she finished, she took an anxious breath and looked up.

Connie showed no sign of emotion until she began to speak again.

"You see, this was effective work wise, yes, as Miss Freeman kindly pointed out. However, she helped highlight to me the effect it was having on my staff, and how it wasn't working out the way I had planned. Without her voice, one of my colleagues could have slowly worked herself to death. Without her voice, we wouldn't be in the strong position we are in now."

 _Oh-she takes care of herself_

 _She can wait if she wants_

 _She's ahead of her time_

 _Oh-and she never gives out_

 _And she never gives in_

 _She just changes her mind._

Rita was taken aback. Did Connie Beauchamp just compliment her? In a way she was flattered and she felt her heart twitch within her chest. However, she was more confused and slightly irritated- she wished her boss would just make up her mind! Does she like her or does she not? Will she be civil or will she not? It was becoming too complicated, even for Connie- she had always been complex, just never like this.

 _She is frequently kind_

 _And she's suddenly cruel_

 _She can do as she pleases_

 _She's nobody's fool_

 _And she can't be convicted_

 _She's earned her degree_

 _And the most she will do_

 _Is throw shadows at you_

 _But she's always a woman to me._

There was no denying it; Connie was a brilliant doctor. She handled the trickiest of patients with the ease of a hot knife slicing through butter, and she took care of each and every one of her others. She was especially great with children, Rita had noticed. Her eyes with brighten when she introduced herself, and her voice would become so gentle it was almost unrecognizable. It was a delight to watch, and she knew the woman enjoyed that part of her job the most.

As much as Rita was loyal to Zoe, Connie was a better clinical lead. She was everything they needed in a savior- smart, powerful, organized and one hell of a brilliant leader. She had earned her position at the top.

 _She can take you or leave you_ _  
_ _She can ask for the truth  
But she'll never believe you  
And she'll take what you give her, as long as it's free  
Yeah, she steals like a thief  
But she's always a woman to me._

Once Connie began to talk again, Rita felt herself slowly drifting back off into her thoughts. Her friends and colleagues downstairs didn't take to the woman, except maybe Robyn, and the nurse couldn't figure out why. They said she was on a glory mission, even Charlie agreed with that- but Rita couldn't see it. After hearing about her father, she wanted nothing more than to tell Connie that she was doing a great job, and that she was well respected and liked within the department.

But she couldn't. That would be lying. Besides, she wouldn't believe a word of it anyway.

 _Oh-she takes care of herself  
She can wait if she wants  
She's ahead of her time  
Oh-and she never gives out  
And she never gives in  
She just changes her mind_

Connie lacked emotion, and Rita believed that was the reason her staff disliked her so much. They looked at her and saw a robot, whereas she looked at her and saw an immensely secretive being. They saw skin where she saw barriers, and they saw sternness where she saw fear. They didn't care about her enough to think that much about it; but Rita did. She cared about her a lot.

 _And she'll promise you more  
Than the Garden of Eden  
Then she'll carelessly cut you  
And laugh while you're bleedin'  
But she'll bring out the best  
And the worst you can be  
Blame it all on yourself  
Cause she's always a woman to me._

She had made great pledges and put in large amounts of time to that emergency department, which she wouldn't have done if she didn't care about the place or the people in it. Her influence over the past year had been astounding, with her presence each day changing people- most of the time for the better. Cal had become more focused on his work, Ethan took a leaf out of her book and became more resilient, Lily gained precious people skills and Rita- well, she didn't even know where to begin.

She was so much happier than she had been before. There wasn't a trace of alcohol in her house, she hadn't been hung over for work in months and she finally knew how to stand up to people. The latter was mostly thanks to their many stand-offs in the clinical lead's office, and disagreements over this, that and everything.

But she knew she had been changed for the better.

 _She is frequently kind  
And she's suddenly cruel  
She can do as she pleases  
She's nobody's fool  
And she can't be convicted  
She's earned her degree  
And the most she will do  
Is throw shadows at you  
But she's always a woman to me._

Without realizing it, the rest of the hour had flown and everyone was starting to disperse. Rita blinked a few times before standing and tucking her chair under the table. Guy approached her and congratulated her on surviving standing up to her boss, something which pissed the nurse right off.

"She's not the controlling beast you all think she is you know." Rita crossed her arms and looked up at the imposing figure with dark eyes. "She has emotions just like you and me."

He just laughed, face contorted into an unnerving grin.

"She's a machine Rita, she's not capable of love or happiness or anything else. You'll learn that soon enough. Why do you care anyway? You're just a nurse."

"And may I ask _why_ you are interrogating my head nurse, Mr Self?" They both jumped and Guy turned to see Connie stood behind him, mirroring Rita's pose with her arms crossed. He quickly made his excuses and left, leaving the two women alone.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Connie asked quietly, looking to the floor at the side of her. "What you said to him."

"I meant that you are a human being, just like everyone else. Not some beast that can claw someone's head off whenever it feels like it." She successfully masked the tremors running through her voice due to nerves and Connie looked up, confused, though she didn't say anything. Rita took a deep breath and decided it was just time to come out with it.

"I care about you, ok? I can notice when you're sad, or angry, or just downright depressed. I've seen you Connie- in your office, crying when you think no-one is there. I walked past your door after Alfred died to see tears streaming down your cheeks so many times, and it was hard, not knocking on the door and telling you everything will be ok."

The brunette seemed to have frozen, her eyes still and looking straight into Rita's. She carried on speaking.

"You're not the strong, independent woman you make yourself out to be. It's all an act, a barrier to what really lies deep within you- a fear of failure, of vulnerability and of fear itself. You're not a robot. You're Connie Beauchamp; a brilliant doctor, an even better surgeon and a human being. And I love you." She said the last part softly, only then realizing (with relief) that they were the only ones left in the room. When she looked back to her face, she realised Connie's eyes were brimming with tears.

"No-one-" She began before stopping, turning slightly and taking a deep breath before continuing. "No-one's ever said anything like that to me before. No-one's managed to see beyond what I act as, until now. You're-you're a special one, Rita." She blinked and a lone tear fell down her cheek. "I don't think anyone's ever cared about me as much as you seem to do. And, I guess I'd be lying if I didn't say I cared about you too. This hatred towards you was another act, though one I rather hoped you wouldn't see through. It's not something I want shouted about."

She finished speaking and bit her lip. Rita smiled, reaching up and wiping the tear from her face. She had finally gotten through to her and cupped Connie's cheek gently. She expected her to pull away, but she stayed where she was. Without thinking, the nurse stood on her toes and planted a small, tender kiss on the woman's lips.

Connie closed her eyes, a rush of love being released from deep within her. When they broke apart, Rita knew that she finally had her heart back.

"Fancy, fancy a drink, later?" Connie asked cautiously, gently wiping beneath her eyes as she watched Rita smile.

"Yeah." She nodded, "That would be nice."

Unsure of what to do next, the clinical lead looked round slightly before picking up her bags.

"See you at the Queen's- say, 9?"

"That's great. Bye."

"Bye Rita." She smiled and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear before leaving the room.

The nurse could have jumped for joy.


End file.
